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J&S in the 2013 Wool Season (picture blog)
Although it has been relatively quiet on our blog for the past few months this by no means reflects the buzz of activity that the wool season brings to J&S each year. This always involves taking in around 250 tonnes of wool from around 700-800 individual crofts, hand grading and sorting it for quality and baling it up into around 850 bales for being sent off to the scourers; all whilst preparing ourselves for Shetland Wool Week in October. So before I have to run off to take in more wool, bale it up or work on a pattern or two I have put together a little picture blog giving a tiny insight into J&S in the middle of this crazy season Under a typical Shetland summer sky, our big green doors are open to welcome in more wool at any time The unassuming façade of the J&S shop gives no hint of the myriad of woolly treasures stocked within Comparing the middle of the wool season to its beginning in June gives a stark contrast to the amount of wool passing through the wool store each day Derek (who will not thank me for taking his picture!) sorts through some of the 3 tonnes, or so, of wool coming in per day As we get through the wool, baling it up and stacking it in columns, the crofters' wool bag bundles characteristic of the second half of the wool season pile up in every nook and cranny The Middle (or Coloured Wool) Store After spending all day baling up coloured wool it is still bursting out of its stalls Coloured Shetland wool: natural, undyed, versatile, unique Some of our very best wool, laid to the side for hand-spinners A moorit fleece drapes beautifully whilst waiting to be collected by a hand-spinner The shop is busy as ever with boxes full of exciting goodies arriving the whole time to be unpacked onto the shelves and sent out all over the world Designs and patterns, new and old, grace the shop with kits being made up for any customer needing a new project Some new friends, the ill trickit trows, have joined us in the shop and new garments hang upstairs, waiting for their patterns to be finished Down in the old police station all is quiet as the whipping machine, used to transform our range of undyed wool carpeting into floor rugs, lies dormant waiting to be worked again in a quieter time of the year
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It's that time of year again
The wool season 2013 has finally kicked off after a pretty poor start to the year weather-wise. Stuart is back through in the wool store most of the time helping Derek and Oliver and even Ella has been having a go at hand-grading the wool and baling it up. Load 1 of 12 will be leaving us very shortly to head off to the scourers and then the fun begins as most of Shetland's wool pours into us from all over the islands. The Wool Store, waiting for the influx of this years wool clip The Middle - or Coloured Wool - Store We handle roughly 80% of Shetland's clip which is about 250 tonnes of new wool. After the wool is dropped off by one of our 700-800 suppliers and weighed in, each fleece has to be hand-graded and sorted into its various colours and one of 5 grades; from Superfine to Rough. This can include dividing up a single fleece into various grades, as Shetland wool can contain fine fibre for spinning lace and thicker fibre suitable for carpet all in one fleece. It is then all baled up and each bale labelled clearly, with the crofters who own the wool noted down, so that it can be traced from the scourers right back to the croft on which it was grown. All in all it is hard work but very worthwhile watching all the wool passing through, especially when you go next door to the shop and see all the beautiful products it is transformed in to. A fleece can provide wool suitable for fine lace to carpeting Shetland wool, like Shetland's climate, landscape and wildlife, is varied, untamed and often seems to have a life of its own; but once it has passed through the laborious process of hand-sorting at J&S, its rebellious and challenging nature that comes from its original, unprocessed form gives Shetland wool products the unique and beautiful handle and bounce; the natural, undyed colouring; and the distinctive 'Shetland halo' that it has become world famous for. If you're ever in Shetland make sure to pop in to the J&S wool store and shop for a look, where you can see the various grades of wool, how it is handled and the beautiful products Shetland wool creates.
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Christmas Time at J&S
Christmas time has arrived at J&S so we have been happily decorating the shop in between serving customers and packaging up & sending off hundreds of little woolly parcels. Our new kit samples look so Christmassy that they are taking pride of place displayed opposite the Christmas tree. My mam has already finished the Annie Jumper for my baby nephew (with a few alterations, as knitters can do, to fit the little fellow) and is now moving on to the Peerie Bairns Jumper for my neice, so that's some of their presents nearly finished! We also have three new kits on-line to add a little bit more celebration to the occasion. The Fair Isle Cap, like the Fair Isle V-necked Jumper, is from the textile collection in the Shetland Museum and Archives and is made from our Shetland Heritage yarn. It is thought the original came from Fair Isle itself and would have been a fisherman's cap made from local wool, hand spun and dyed. It has a plain lining made from the Peat Heritage Yarn and so it is doubly warm, keeping your head cosy and snug over a cold winter. It is also soft and beautiful and definitely something to treasure. The original Fair Isle Cap from the Shetland Museum and Archives collection The second new kit is the Karelides Cardigan by Outi Kater, a beautiful, Finland-inspired Fair Isle cardigan which makes excellent use of the natural shades of Shetland Wool. Its design reflects the beautiful, subtle nature of this undyed Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight yarn. Kate Davies' Warriston is now available from us not just as a bundle of yarn but complete with beautiful pattern from Kate herself. It is a raglan smock knitted in Shetland Aran with inset pockets, cowl neck, and raglan shaping, perfect for this cold winter weather. This is just one of Kate's stunning designs in our yarn and we hope they keep on coming as she is great to work with. The Heritage Yarn, with its beautiful warm shades that fit so well into our shop's Christmas decorations, has been a huge hit with knitters so far so we are planning on expanding the range of this worsted yarn. It would be great to hear all of your opinions on this and what colours you would like to see, including those discontinued shades of ours that you long to make a comeback. You can leave a message on here regarding this or email ella@shetlandwoolbrokers.co.uk with your thoughts. We would really appreciate your input. We will be closing on Friday 21st December and won't open again until Monday 7th January so any orders received during this time won't be sent out until next year. But when we get back we will get them out to you as soon as possible. Have a great Christmas period and happy knitting!
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A Legacy of Shetland Lace
A Legacy of Shetland Lace is a new book released by the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers. A collection of 21 stunning projects designed by members of the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers. The book contains everything from scarves and stoles, to wraps and lace tops. As well as the patterns the book has wonderful pictures and explanations of abbreviations, Shetland words to do with knitting, grafting and finishing. Each pattern is supported by a biography of the designer which charts their story with lace and knitting. There are patterns in this book from some of the best lace knitters in Shetland. Hazel Tindall, Mary Kay, Ina Irvine and Kathleen Anderson to name but a few.. The Legacy of Shetland Lace is a modern and contemporary book that encapsulates our lace knitting history in a group of well designed patterns. photo courtesy of the Shetland Museum and Archives Shetland ladies were (and still are) renowned world- wide for their superb knitting skills and their ability to produce designs from their environment and surroundings. Not only did they carry out most of the croft work they also were accomplished hand spinners and would spin a gossamer fine lace yarn which would be knitted into shawls or scarves. These works of art would be sold to the local merchant or knitwear shop and provide much needed income. All the patterns in the book can be knitted with our Shetland Supreme 1 and 2 ply worsted yarns which come in a range of five natural colours, any patterns calling for 2ply can also use our 2ply Lace Weight Yarn which comes in twenty five shades. There is a lovely pattern by Hazel Tindall which calls for Chunky Shetland wool, in which our Shetland Aran BSS16 would be a perfect match! We at J & S are proud to say that we have reproduced such a fine yarn as used to produce these unique garments all these years ago. In conjunction with our local museum we attempted to revive the art of Lace knitting which was becoming a thing of the past. Part of our inspiration was taken from reading in the local archives that Queen Victoria had stockings made in Shetland from Shetland wool. The yarn used was a combed worsted yarn and not a carded woollen spun yarn, the worsted spinning produces a smoother finer stronger thread which captures the unique characteristics of Shetland wool, especially the soft handle required to wear next to the skin. We congratulate the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters,Weavers and Dyers on their superb publication A Legacy of Shetland Lace. Their efforts and skill carries on the distinct culture and heritage of some of the finest knitters in the world. The book is available here for £23.99
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Wovember 2012
It is already half way through Wovember 2012 and we have realised that all has gone quiet on the J&S blog front recently. So to contribute our little bit to this magnificent month we thought we would give you a little sneaky peek behind the scenes here to show you where all your wonderful wool comes from. We start off in the wool-store, which could be described as the hub of Shetland's wool industry with more than 700 local crofters delivering their wool - ranging from bundles of a few kilos to trucks full with a few tonnes in some cases - through our big green doors. We then sort through the bags, fleece by fleece, to separate them into the different grades and natural colours with the finest being used to make fine lace and the toughest for durable wool carpets. The wool is then squashed into bales by our trusty old baler ready to be shipped and scoured, carded, combed, spun and dyed into the cushion filling, combed tops and lace and yarn that we send off to you. Some of it comes back to us transformed into beautiful rugs, carpets, duvets and even the life-changing Vi-Spring beds. We sent off our last load of wool for 2012 yesterday which has left room in the main store to clear out the coloured wool-store and sort each coloured fleece into the different grades, ready to be sent away in the final load of this year's wool season - usually in April - and processed into all of our natural, undyed products. This final 12th shipment will bring this year's total to over 240 tonnes of wool: a total which is usually greeted with a look of amazement from anyone who hears it. When the products finally arrive back here after their long transformation they take pride of place in our shop that is joined onto the wool stores where they first became part of J&S as raw wool. The shop was expanded in 2010 to make it three times its original size and give all of our treasured woolly products room to show off. It is now much-loved by knitters who can rummage around, comparing and contrasting colours to create their very own Shetland Wool knitwear. The shop also doubles up as the mail-room where we make up, package and send out orders from all over the world. This makes it a very busy place every morning until our postie comes just after 12 to take away the parcels. However, we love making up the little woolly bundles so thank you to each and every one of you who has ordered from us and helped support Shetland's wool industry. I just thought I'd end with an image of what makes this all possible. The humble Shetland Sheep with its world-beating wool in its wild, exposed habitat that makes it all so magical.
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The Middle
Yesterday Oliver and Derek made the first move into the aptly named 'Middle store', which is tucked between our Wool Store, where the raw wool is dropped off by our suppliers, and the yarn store, where we sell yarn and post out woolly parcels. They'll now start the mammoth task of individually hand sorting all of the coloured Shetland wool. They will go through every single fleece (all 7,000 of them or thereabouts) and separate the finer grades (for example the wool that comes from the sheep's neck) used in hand-knit yarns, knitwear and blankets from the coarser wool (for example from the back legs) which we put in our 100% Shetland Wool carpets so that nothing is wasted, and our suppliers get the very most for their wool.The contents of our middle store is really quite precious. Of the 250,000kilos of Shetland Wool that we deal with each year (which represents over 80% of Shetland's total wool clip), only about 10,000kilos of this is coloured wool. We give our suppliers a premium for their coloured wool to encourage the breeding of coloured sheep. I was talking with one of our suppliers just the other day and he was delighted that he'd managed to get a coloured ram, and is looking forward to coloured lambs this spring. So, first hand evidence that this work is paying off! Fingers crossed for a very colourful wool season in 2011...1 The wall 2 The middle store 3 The inroad4 The man (6' 4" Oliver)
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